Under The Same Blue Moon
by invinciblesamurai
Summary: Finished with his journey throughout the D.C. ruins, the Lone Wanderer decides to travel to the Mojave to find his equal; The Courier.
1. Chapter 1

**UNDER THE SAME BLUE MOON**

**A FALLOUT FAN FICTION**

`From the moment The Lone Wanderer had stepped out of the vault, he knew his life would never be the same, and that he could never settle down. He was what his title proclaimed him to be, a lone wanderer. His days of being nomadic had been long and winding. He had been gone so long he forgot his own name. But he didn't need one. He wasn't a boy in a vault anymore. He was a man of the wasteland. He felt connected to the barren landscape, like a fisherman his pole, a musician his instrument. The wastes kept him going, through his endless days. But his days in the DC ruins were complete, he had seen, he had done. He felt his journey throughout there was complete. He had his sights set on one place. The Mojave. He had heard great things of it, its sprawling landscape, its plentiful mercenary work. But there had been one single thing, or rather person, that had sparked his interest. He had been told of The Courier. One who could match him in experience. Of love for the wasteland. He felt there would be no better companion and rival than this man. And so, he began his journey westward.

`The Courier sat in the Mojave Outpost barracks, enjoying a drink with Boone and Cass. They were merrily enjoying themselves, even Boone, for they were loaded full of drink after a successful mission. The bartender, Lacey, turned to The Courier.

"I heard it from a trader that you've got someone looking for you, Courier," she said.

The Courier reached for his pistol at his side.

"Excuse me?" he asked

"Oh, not like that. He means well. At least I'm assuming. It's the guy from Vault 101, the one that stopped the Enclave back in DC, you've heard of him, correct?"

"Oh. I've heard a few things, yeah. What does he want?" He replaced his pistol.

"Not sure, all I heard from a brahman trader was that he's making his way from D.C. to meet you. Beyond that, no idea. I'm sure he doesn't mean any harm"

"I wouldn't be so sure…" said Cass.

"He destroyed the fucking Enclave for the good of the people at the cost of his life. I'm pretty sure he's not out for blood. Courier here hasn't done a thing to him, anyway. I just don't see anything bad happening." chimed in Boone.

The Courier looked deep in thought, staring deep into nothing.

"Let him come, I look forward to this. I'm sure I've got enough manpower here to handle anything he could throw at me, right guys?"

"Hell yeah!" Cass and Boone said simultaneously, as they both took a shot of whiskey.

The Wanderer returned to Megaton to say his goodbyes, for it had been the only place where he felt he could settle down, if he ever chose that. He said goodbye to Moira last, because he knew it would be the hardest.

"You…you're leaving..? Oh…" Moira said, looking almost like a sad dog. "Will you be back…?"

"It's possible. I don't know. It all depends on how my journey goes. I'll never forget you, though, you're something else, Moira!' said the Wanderer, with a chuckle and a big grin.

"Aww, you big, sweet-hearted lug! I'll never forget you either. You really helped me before with the survival guide. I couldn't have done that without you," she said with a smile. "I don't know if you're the type, but…hug? Moira opened her arms.

"Why not? The Wanderer laughed as he hugged her.

"I've got some supplies here-" Moira started.

"No, I couldn't."

"Take them."

"Ugh fine. Thank you so very much, Moira."

"It's nothing. If you ever need anything else, you know where I'll be at! I want to see you again, come back soon!"

The Wanderer nodded as he walked out the door of the Craterside Supply. He walked down to the midsection of the small town, patted the huge nuclear bomb that he had disarmed years ago when he was only 19, and walked out the front gates, beginning his journey.


	2. Chapter 2

As they awoke and looked towards the morning sun, Cass stood up and lit a cigarette.

"You really shouldn't smoke, it throws off the senses," said Boone.

"I got all the senses I need, sniper boy," retorted Cass

"Ugh, be quiet both of you, I've got a hangover…You know, it's 2284, you'd think they'd have a cure for that by now," the Wanderer said, arising from sleep.

"Back when I was in the Army, the other snipers used to take a cocktail of chems to cure hangovers."

"Fuck that, I'm not using any damned chems. Stimpacks and med-x are the farthest I'll go."

Cass and Boone nodded in agreement, and started to pack up their things.

"We're moving out soon, right?"

"Yeah…Let's see if anyone needs any work done at McCarran. …Fuck, I can't get that 'Lone Wanderer' guy off my mind."

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. C'mon, let's get going."

They arrived to Camp McCarran at about 11 am, and walk through the main doors.

"I'll go find Colonel Hsu, you guys wait here," said the Courier.

The Courier walked up the stairs, and into Hsu's office.

"Courier! Welcome, old friend. I haven't seen you in a while, how have you been?" said Hsu.

"I've been well. The gang and I are here to see if you've got any work for us," replied the Courier.

"Ah, well, we've been getting attacked by a gang or two of Fiends, nothing too big, no major injuries. But if you could, ah…clean them up, that'd be much appreciated. Does 500 caps sound about good?"

"That's perfect, sir. I'll be back within a few hours," The Courier shook Hsu's hand, and turned to walk out the door. As soon as he passed through the doorway, he turned around, to face the Colonel.

"Sir, I've got a question. Personal matter, really,"

"Shoot, son. I'll supply an answer if I can, best to my ability."

"Well…Do you know anything about 'The Lone Wanderer'?"

"The guy that fucked up the Enclave? Yeah, I've got a little bit of info on him, what do you need to know?"

"Just anything you can provide, sir."

"Hm. Well, he left his vault, Vault 101, at age 19, to go after his father, for some kind of purifier thing. His father also died protecting the thing. He disarmed a nuke in a D.C. city called "Megaton", saved the whole place from detonating. He's a Brotherhood of Steel Knight-"

"He's a fucking Brotherhood Knight?!"

"Yeah, they made him one after he pretty much single-handedly destroyed the Enclave, and saved the purifier. Risked his life for the thing, it was seriously over-radiated. It was a miracle he survived."

"That's fucking…wow. Anything else, sir?"

"Ah…Yeah actually, he was stopped a few days ago by a squad of Rangers." Hsu goes over to the report. "Yeah, he was stopped…somewhere, it doesn't say on here. Anyway, they stopped him because he looked 'suspicious'. Turns out he was carrying over 300 pounds of equipment. Huh. How the fuck can one guy carry that much weaponry? The guy must have his strength at 10…"

"Strength at 10, sir?"

"Oh, metaphorically. It's not like we have anything SPECIAL that can determine how we are. That'd be like having some kind of perks. Or like, a leveling system. How weird would that be?" Hsu said with a laugh.

"You've got quite an imagination and a sense of humor, colonel. But, whoo. Three hundred pounds? That's rather impressive… Did it look like he was pissed off?"

"Oh no, actually. The report said he was calm and compliant, actually stayed at the ranger station for a night, even helping keep watch."

"Alright, that's quite good."

"Any reason for you asking?"

"Not really. Just stuff I've been hearing lately. You ever have that situation happen where you learn about something, then it's all you hear about for a little while?"

"Yeah, actually. I know exactly what you're talking about."

"It's one of those situations. Anyway, I'd better be going, I've got some Fiends to take care of."

The Courier walked downstairs and faced Cass and Boone.

"Take you long enough? I could have field stripped my weapon at least twenty times in the time you were gone," said Boone/

"I got us a mission, we've got to take out a gang of Fiends. Pretty basic, 500 cap pay off. But I did get some good information on our friend The Lone Wanderer. I'll inform you guys on the way there. Let's head out.


	3. Chapter 3

As the trio stepped outside the building, the heat wave hit them. The hot, vapid Mojave outdoors was a wicked changed from the cool, air conditioning of the indoors. The above-90 degree heat really took a toll on them, and they almost instantly started sweating. They looked around and saw all the NCR infantry troops in full gear, going about their day, casually.

"How they do it, I'll never know," said Cass, already sounding exhausted.

"You just get used to the heat after a while." said Boone. "It becomes a part of you."

"He's pretty much right, Cass. I barely notice the heat anymore. Especially in the heat of battle. Ooh, I'm getting chills already," said the Courier with a chuckle. All of a sudden, his Pip-boy chimed in.

"To the town of Agua Fria-"

"Turn that off. Now. I swear, if I hear that song one more time…" growled Cass.

"They really do need to play different music on the radio. Heh. Hey guys, imagine if they had this thing where you could put all your songs on it and listen to it whenever you wanted it" said the Courier with a laugh.

"HA! That'll be the day. Next thing you know they'll have movies you can watch any time. And they'll be on little circle things!" said Boone.

"You've got quite the imagination, Boone. I didn't know a rugged hunk like you had it in him…" sighed Cass.

"Uh… Let's get going guys. We've been standing at the gate for ten minutes…" said the Courier, with a look of confusion and slight disgust.

They pushed open the large gate, leading to a sand swept road that trailed on, seemingly with no end. You could walk down the road forever, and never reach your goal. You'd just keep traveling, drifting in the wind like the tumbleweeds that would accompany. Or so it seemed. If you knew where your destination was, you might just make it. But only if your luck was high enough.


	4. Chapter 4

"Halt! Stop where you are!" The Lone Wanderer heard the voice in the distance, echoing against the rocky caverns surrounding him. He whirled around to see what had been calling him. It was what appeared to be a military troop. Although he could barely see through the sand flying by his face, he could faintly make out a patch on the trooper's vest. 'NCR', it read. He racked his mind trying to think of what it could stand for, but nothing seemed to stick out in his mind. He stood there, looking more confused than he really should, watching the man approach him.

"State your name and business, citizen," said the solider, in a rather gruff voice.

"I..uh..they call me the Lone Wanderer, sir. And I'm just passing through to get to Nevada. Visiting a, uh, friend." the Wanderer said, rather confused. He didn't know why he was stopped, this didn't happen very often at all, if ever.

"Lone Wanderer, eh? Pleasure to meet you, I hear you're quite on the side of justice. That's very good," the man said, as he outstretched his hand. The Wanderer looked at it for a moment, still confused, then shook his hand after a minute. "I stopped you because you were looking suspicious, and you look like you're packing a lot of heat. Could you tell me how much you're carrying?

"Ah, hold on a second…" the Wanderer said, as he flashed on his Pip-Boy and navigated to the equipment screen. "According to my Pip-Boy, I'm carrying 327 pounds of equipment, not counting ammo…because that's too hardcore."

"T-th-three hundred?! How in the hell do you manage to carry all that? Your Pip-Boy must be broken!" sputtered the man, looking at the Wanderer in disbelief.

"It's because I received power armor training. With all due respect sir, if you were small enough to fit, I could probably carry around four or five of you…"

"Well I'll be damned, the legends about you are true. You said you're passing through? How about you come and stay with us for the night? I'm sure the Mojave gets rather cold at night, eh?"

"Yeah, you're right, it really does. I'd love to join you and your men. Is there anything I could do to help repay you?"

"Well…it is my night for guard watch… You obviously know how to hold and shoot a gun, how about you take over? There'll be all the coffee, food, smokes, and booze you could need."

"I don't smoke or drink that often, but food and coffee sound great. I would love to take watch for you. Lead the way!"

The trooper led the Lone Wanderer back to their base camp, talking all the way. It took both of their mind's about the quickly dropping temperature, the cracking, rough, dry climate, and not to mention the immense boredom one has to endure when crossing the desert on their own.

"Forgot to introduce myself, damn," said the troop. "I'm Ranger Brown. I'm the leader of the ranger encampment here."

"Brown… Are you by chance related to Moira Brown, lives in D.C.?" the wanderer asked. He was doubtful, but still decided to ask anyway.

"Little Momo? Yeah, that's my younger sister! How is she?" Brown asked excitedly. "I haven't seen her in years, since…well since I enlisted with the NCR."

"She's fine, in perfect health. She's…a bit zany, but I'm assuming that's the way she's always been, unless some rads got to her head," chuckled the Wanderer.

"Yeah, she always has been. It's good to hear she's doing well. I had a dream that a bomb went off and she got turned into a ghoul. Some crazy bastard blew up a nuke in the middle of her town, what crazy S.O.B. would do something like that? Anyway, tell me, what's it like in D.C.?"

"It's very…barren. But not like here, where it's just desert. Everything is blown away, by the explosions. D.C. was ground zero, you know. The white house doesn't even exist anymore. Radiation is quite frequent there. Oh, and there are a ton of ghouls and super mutants. They're a bitch to deal with at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's all good. Except for the super mutant overlords. Those things are unbelievably tough."

"The only super mutants here are in Jacobstown, and they're the good kind, believe it or not. There used to be some nasties at Black Mountain, but this guy Courier, he's rather legendary around these parts, he wiped out the bad ones and sent the leader packing to Jacobstown. Apparently she had some sort of epiphany or something."

"Fawkes…He was a friend of mine, him and I used to adventure back in the day, but he went off somewhere one day. I wonder if he's up at that Jacobstown you were talking about? But about this Courier guy, you know anything more about him?"

"Yeah, I do, actually. But hold on, we've reached base camp. I'll tell you more once we get inside and get all set up."


End file.
